Gov. Ted Kulongoski has decided to sign an election-related bill that gives new powers to minor parties while also repealing a law that had made it harder for independents to run for office in Oregon.

The governor has decided to sign the bill despite the opposition of officials from his own Democratic Party, who think it gives minor parties too much sway. Anna Richter Taylor, the governor's spokeswoman, said Kulongoski was primarily interested in repealing the 2005 law, which he had signed with reservations at the time because he was concerned it was too onerous on non-affiliated candidates.

One could argue that Kulongoski benefitted politically from the 2005 law. Ben Westlund, then a state senator from Bend, ran in 2006 as an independent candidate for governor and it appeared that he was taking more votes from Kulongoski than the Republicans. However, Westlund, who is now a Democrat and the state treasurer, dropped his candidacy in late summer, in part because he had spent so much of his time and resources collecting signatures.

The measure now on the governor's desk, Senate Bill 326, also allows candidates to list the nomination of more than one political party on their ballot line. The process is known as fusion voting, and it gives minor parties a new tool to use to gain political power.

Instead of just running their own candidates, minor parties can now offer what amounts to an endorsement that will be the last thing voters will see before casting their vote.

The law that SB 326 repeals said that only voters who had not participated in the Democratic or Republcian primaries - or the nomination process of a minor party - can sign a petition to put an independent on the ballot.

While Democratic Party officials had encouraged Kulongoski not to sign the bill because of the fusion voting provision, the governor's deputy chief of staff - Tim Nesbitt, the former Oregon AFL-CIO president - had been a strong supporter of fusion voting. Nesbitt had helped form the Working Families Party, which was created largely with fusion voting in mind. Founders said they hoped the new party would help push Democratic voters toward more liberal stands on issues such as health care and the minimum wage.

Another party that could benefit greatly from the fusion voting bill is the Independent Party of Oregon, which has a brand that is sought after by candidates of both of the major parties.